Riviera Travel offers add-on land tours for the first time

Riviera Travel offers add-on land tours for the first time

Tours of Lisbon, Budapest and the Swiss Alps added to three European river cruises

European river cruise line, Riviera Travel is, for the first time, offering Australians add-on overland tours to three of its sailings, allowing guests to venture deeper into the continent.

The four-day extensions feature the colourful city of Lisbon, the stately capital of Budapest and Switzerland’s majestic alpine countryside and include accommodation and guided tours of the major landmarks and attractions.

Available as an add-on for the ‘Douro, Oporto and Salamanca’ cruise, the four-day Lisbon land tour takes guests inland from the wild seascapes of the Atlantic coast into Portugal’s fields and pine forests, travelling south to Lisbon. Highlights include a guided tour of Lisbon’s magnificent squares, cathedral and castle, a visit to the historic town of Sintra with its Royal Palace, the holy shrine of Fatima and a tour of one of Europe’s oldest places of learning, Coimbra University, with its gilded, baroque library, complete with 300,000 medieval volumes. The add-on tour is available from A$959 per person, twin-share, and the eight-day, round-trip Douro, Oporto and Salamanca cruise costs from A$2519.

After Riviera Travel’s culture-filled ‘Blue Danube’ cruise, guests can explore the magnificent city of Budapest – with its palatial buildings, grand baroque churches, and pretty bridges which straddle the famous river. Highlights of the four-day Budapest add-on tour include a guided tour of the iconic Parliament building, a visit to the famous National Gallery with its Hungarian works of art and an opportunity to explore the palace and gardens at Godollo, the former summer residence of the royal family. The extension will also include a scenic drive through Hungary’s Great Plain, where guests can watch a performance by some of the region’s most famous horsemen. The add-on land tour is available from A$1069 per person, twin-share, and the eight-day Blue Danube cruise costs from A$1849.

The four-day Switzerland add-on land tour will give guests on Riviera Travel’s ‘Rhine Cruise’ a taste of the country’s alpine landscape. Guests will explore the landlocked country by train, including the legendary Glacier Express, Europe’s most scenic rail journey, which offers unobstructed views of snow-covered mountains, quaint villages and green valleys. Other highlights of the land tour include a visit to Chur, Switzerland’s oldest city, and a stay in Zermatt, the perfect base for exploring the mountainous countryside and seeing beautiful views of the Matterhorn peak, the Swiss national symbol which is also featured in the logo for Toblerone chocolate. The add-on tour is available from A$1499 per person, twin-share, and the eight-day Rhine Cruise to Switzerland costs from A$2609.

Offering inclusive, five-star cruises at fares up to 50 per cent lower than river companies more established in Australia, Riviera Travel’s 11 luxury river ships will offer more than 300 cruises across 12 different itineraries in Europe in 2018. Riviera Travel’s spacious, five-star ships offer fine dining restaurants, marble lobbies, sumptuous lounges, sun decks, splash pools, gyms and cabins boasting French or full balconies. The biggest river cruise operator in the UK market, Riviera Travel made its first foray into the growing Australian market in 2016.

Do you have a passion for travel and lifestyle? Are you good at networking and connecting with people? Do you have a desire to dip your toes into the world of being your own boss and run your travel business?

Teds Travels

A few weeks ago I was recommending you all to take it a bit slower when visiting Latin America, every big city has so much to offer, and if there is a city that will need a lot more of time to explore is Mexico City